Tunay Demran Collection
Foreword
The catalogue of two hundred and fifty-three coins in the collection of Tunay Demran, who brought together coins belonging to different civilizations and cultures over many years and with great dedication, registered with the Manisa Museum Directorate, has been prepared and presented.
The coins in the Tunay Demran Collection, belonging to different periods and cultures and represented in various denominations, have been prepared according to chronological classifications. The coins in the collection date from the 5th century BC to the 15th century AD. Greek coins were included in the first section and classified according to the cities and regions to which they belong. Roman Imperial, Roman Provincial and Byzantine Imperial coins were arranged in a chronological sequence by taking into account the periods to which they belong.
Among the Byzantine coins, the gold coin / hyperpyron of Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes is the most valuable coin of the catalogue, as it was produced at the Magnesia mint. Coins minted in Magnesia provide highly important data for the style and iconography of the coinage of the Empire of Nicaea, while also containing significant information about the economic conditions of their period.
A billon aspron trachy belonging to Theodoros Mankaphas, who declared independence in Philadelphia / Alaşehir between 1188 and 1189 and minted coins in his own name as emperor, is also one of the most important coins in the collection due to its rarity.
A coin of Battista Giustiniani Campi, the ruler of Chios between 1487 and 1488, which is included in the Tunay Demran Collection, also takes its place among the distinctive examples. Finally, although limited in number, the collection also includes coins of the Artuqid Beylik and the Ilkhanid State.
The historical development of Manisa and its surroundings can be examined through coins, which are among the most valuable sources of economic, socio-cultural and artistic data among the works belonging to the different civilizations that the region hosted for centuries. The Tunay Demran Collection contains the cultures that settled in and around Manisa over the centuries and provides important information about these cultures.
The collection is extremely valuable both for identifying the historical transitions of the Manisa region and for examining the artistic approaches and preferences of these cultures.
The coins in the Tunay Demran Collection were organized through research in national and international publications and by comparison with coin catalogues. Bringing the collection to the publication stage was the result of a collaborative effort.
As the first step of the catalogue study, the documentation process began with the photographing of the coins in the collection by photographer Mr. Yetkin Odabaşı. Research Assistant Ömer Tatar, from the Department of Ancient History in the Department of History, Faculty of Letters, Akdeniz University, carried out a meticulous and highly careful study in the classification of the Classical, Hellenistic, Roman Imperial and Roman Provincial coins in the collection and in arranging them in regional and chronological order, with the great support, knowledge and guidance of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dinçer Savaş Lenger.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ceren Ünal, faculty member of the Department of Art History, Division of Byzantine Art, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Manisa Celal Bayar University, and Merve Toy, graduate student in the Department of Art History, Institute of Social Sciences, Ege University, worked in detail on the organization of the Byzantine coins and their chronological arrangement.
Art historian and numismatist Gültekin Teoman also shared his knowledge about the Artuqid, Ilkhanid and Medieval European coins in the collection and did not withhold his support.
The common aim of the researchers and authors who contributed to the Tunay Demran Collection, prepared for publication with the support of Şehzadeler Municipality, is for it to serve as a source of data for current and future research on Manisa and its surroundings. In this regard, we would like to thank Mr. Ömer Faruk Çelik, Mayor of Şehzadeler Municipality, and his team for standing by us from the beginning of the study.
Our greatest hope is that the publication of the coins of collector Tunay Demran, registered with the Manisa Museum Directorate, will contribute to numismatic studies in the Western Anatolia region.